Managing The Heat

Man!  Sometimes the heat is intolerable.   Dangerous if you don't watch for the warning signs.

When we stop, Cooper gets a good cold drink of water.

Lisa and I drink from our hydration packs while we're riding.  

We fill them with ice and add water or Gatorade at each stop.

Wet our clothes sometimes.

Cooper has an ice pack in his crate so when it's really hot I make him stay inside with the ice.  

This isn't his favorite, but sometimes he needs to be kept cool.

He prefers to see where we are, so usually I don't close the crate at all.  It does offer him a little shade which is ok up to 90 degrees or so, but over 90 he needs more.

And sometimes we just need to get inside where it's air conditioned for a while.

Can I Go Pee?

Can I go pee?

Thanks Mama, lets go!

Turning The Camera Around

During our ride to SC, I was messing around with my camera.

I have it dangling from a lanyard around my neck so it's easy to reach.  

I got some great shots of the scenery, then decided to see if I could get Cooper if I shot the camera over my shoulder.  

I like how interested he seems to be in our ride.  

I guess I didn't do too badly for a first time.

Hotel Life

Cooper really knows his way around a hotel room.

He is so good.  He knows to be quiet for the most part.

He knows he can bring his leash if he needs to go out.  

He smells all he wants to smell, rolls around on the beds, then settles in to relax after a day of hard riding.

Aaaaaaahhhhhhhh!

Good Advice : Demonstrated by Lisa Simmons

Never lick a blue dog.  :)

Peek-A-Boo!

Peek-A-Boo!

I see you!

A Treat After Dinner

Cooper is always so well behaved in restaurants 

because he knows THIS is in his near future.  

A yummy treat from Mama's plate.

Such a happy boy.

Cooling Off In The Shade

The weather was TOO HOT a couple of the days we were on the road.

We drank ice cold water at every stop to keep hydrated.  I made sure Cooper was peeing at every stop.  If he didn't pee I would do what I had to do to entice him, even if I had to put beef jerky in the water.

Sometimes all we had to do is relax in the shade for a little while to make him have interest in the cool bowl of water I encouraged him to drink. 

He really did well.

Better than me in fact.  

Bridges

Lisa enjoys her bridges.

We went over plenty of them.

She would plot a course straight for them while she planned our routes. 

I think Cooper enjoys them too but for a different reason.

He pokes his head out and samples the air each time we approached another bridge.

There must be tons of great smells for him on the bridges where the water flows under.

I wish my nose was a keen as his.

Where Now?

Off and riding again.  Cooper and I ventured out on a trip to go to South Carolina with our bestie Lisa from Maine.

We were on our way to the annual Women On Wheels® national ride-in.  Here is our first gas stop.  

What a ride this is going to be.  Cooper's ready!